Local boxer Madison Carver sets sights on winning Olympic Gold Medal

FRANKLIN, Ky. – Madison Carver is not your ordinary, everyday teenager.

Unlike most girls her age, the 16-year-old Franklin native spends her free time training for hours on end with hopes that it will one day pay off in a golden way.

For Carver, picking up a sport like boxing was never on the radar until the start of 2020, when her 15-year-old brother, James, began to train a nearby facility located in Franklin.

It was then that Wildcat Boxing Academy head coach Scott Grace first met Carver and began the process of trying to convince her to give the sport a try.

Madison finally agreed and started training with Grace multiple days a week. Due to Covid-19 related reasons, the pair trained for more than a year before Carver was able to compete in her first amateur boxing match, which took place in March.

In the months since, Madison has improved her overall record to 7-0 and won a number of tournaments, including the 3rd Annual Atlanta Classic last month.

Carver has now turned her attention to the Tri-State Golden Gloves tournament, which is set to take place in Huntington, West Virginia near the end of July.

A championship there would catapult Carver to nationals and provide a legitimate pathway to not only joining Team USA, but also potentially competing at the Olympic level in the future.

While the roadmap to competing on an international stage is certainly exciting, Carver says right now she’s just focusing on improving every day and putting in hard work to become the best possible version of herself.